It’s this crazy thing: they’re eating dinner while we’re eating breakfast! It’s the Olympics in China! August 7, 2008
Posted by thomas in : Uncategorized , 3 comments
As the Olympics get set to kick off tomorrow evening/morning (depending on your hemisphere) some of the political tensions surrounding the games have increased in intensity and visibility. President Bush arrived in the country today after comments criticizing China’s human rights record and restriction of civil freedoms, which provoked a swift response from the Chinese government:
“The Chinese government puts people first, and is dedicated to maintaining and promoting its citizens’ basic rights and freedom,” said the statement by Qin Gang, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, as translated by The Associated Press. “Chinese citizens have freedom of religion. These are indisputable facts.”
China has demonstrated its respect of basic rights and freedoms in recent days by denying former Olympian (and co-founder of Team Darfur, “an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about, and bringing an end to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan”), Joey Cheek’s visa ; limiting internet access for foreign journalists; and deporting/arresting various protesters. Joey Cheek hardly seems like much of an Olympic-wrecking-nutjob; in fact an athlete who donated his 2006 medal winnings to Sudanese refugees in Chad seems like the sort of guy who might comfortably embody the Beijing Olympic slogan “One World, One Dream“.
Adding some further complexity and flavor to these already very spicy Olympic games is the sheer amount of money involved. The youtube video above is a Coke commercial featuring Chinese track superstar Liu Xiang, the former world record holder and reigning Olympic champion in the 110m hurdles. For many companies (and some athletes) what makes the games of the XXIX Olympiad so appealing is the potential to reach the massive, growing (and largely untouched) Chinese consumer market. There are articles about the huge wads of cash thrown around to secure official Olympic sponsorship rights here and here. There is a huge financial interest in encouraging the increasing openness of Chinese markets, and this demands a certain sensitivity towards provoking the government. A cynical observer might suggest that the huge money making potential of the Olympic games is at least part of the reason why the International Olympic Committee has been so reluctant to offer any criticism of the various measures taken by the Chinese government in the days and weeks leading up to the opening ceremonies tomorrow.